In the wake of George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis Police last week, our team has been grappling with our anger, grief, and desire to make lasting change to honor George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbury, and the countless others who have been murdered by a system of white supremacy that dates back to 1619 when the first slave ship arrived on the shore of what is now called the United States of America.
We have team members in Minneapolis, Baltimore, Bend, and internationally. All of us have been impacted by the events still unfolding before us, and we would like to take this opportunity to more deeply understand and dismantle the systems of oppression responsible for our current circumstances.
We wanted to share some of the resources that we have come across over the last week.
For white people:
The first step is to educate ourselves about the history of white supremacy in this country. Ibram X. Kendi put together an Anti-Racist reading list that will get us all up to speed and help us do some deep thinking.
“This anti-racist syllabus is for people realizing they were never taught how to be anti-racist. How to treat all the racial groups as equals. How to look at the racial inequity all around and look for the racist policies producing it, and the racist ideas veiling it. This list is for people beginning their anti-racist journey ..”
Ibram X. Kendi (author of “How to Be an Antiracist”)
While you’re re-educating yourself on American History, White Accomplices has ways that white people can take action with their money, in their communities, their families, their workplaces, their art practices, and any other part of life you can imagine. Because white supremacy shows up in every single part of our lives.
And if you feel moved to give financial support to some of the work happening on the ground, Next Day Animations has donated to Black Visions Collective. In their own words:
“Since 2017, Black Visions Collective, has been putting into practice the lessons learned from organizations before us in order to shape a political home for Black people across Minnesota. We aim to center our work in healing and transformative justice principles, intentionally develop our organizations core “DNA” to ensure sustainability, and develop Minnesota’s emerging Black leadership to lead powerful campaigns. By building movements from the ground up with an integrated model, we are creating the conditions for long term success and transformation.”
Most states have Bail Funds where your donation goes to paying the bail of someone arrested protesting on behalf of Black Lives.
If you are Indigenous, Black, or a person of color who is triggered by current events or looking for some self-care, we also wanted to share some resources for healing.
The Nap Ministry (@thenapministry on Instagram and Twitter) advocates for rest as resistance. “We believe rest is a form of resistance and name sleep deprivation as a racial and social justice issue.”
This Family Care, Community Care, and SelfCare ToolKit was put together by the Association of Black Psychologists
POC Online Classroom has assembled “readings on the importance of self care, mental health care, and healing for people of color and within activist movements.”
Spellbound Herbals has a rundown of herbs for protest on their Instagram account.
Lauren Ash Meditation for Black Girls Everywhere
Mental health resources for black people trying to cope
Herbal First Aid: A Free Skillshare for BIPOC
Be safe, take care of one another, and let’s all be the change we want to see.
